Category: Society & Politics

The legality of assisted suicide does not mean the issue is ‘closed’

National Post

John Robson

A leading bishop raised the possibility this week that Roman Catholics who consider doctor-assisted suicide may be denied last rites, as the Church considers it assisted suicide a “morally great evil” despite the fact it will soon be protected by legislation. In doing so, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast reminded us that Canada is a free country. At least, it should do so. And it should be.

Insofar as possible in Canada, where we have traditionally enjoyed liberty under law, we leave people to work things out for themselves. When we do have to deal with something through the power of the state, we discuss it freely both before and after a political decision is made, and coerce citizens only to the minimum compatible with the rule of law. Especially on as contentious a subject as euthanasia. . . [Full Text]

 

Special Joint Committee on Physician Assisted Dying

Parliament of Canada (January-February, 2016)

Overview

Contents

Introduction

In February, 2015, in the case of Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the criminal prohibition of physician assisted suicide and physician administered euthanasia, but suspended the ruling for one year to give federal and provincial governments an opportunity to draft new laws that conform to the decision.  In January, 2016, the Court granted an extension of the suspension to 6 June, 2016.  In the interim, ith it allowed euthanasia to proceed in Quebec under provincial legislation in force there, and allowed individuals seeking physician assisted suicide or euthanasia elsewhere to apply to a superior court to obtain authorization.  A special joint committee of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate began work in January to produce a report for the federal government about proposed federal legislation.

Committee Pages

Proceedings

Transcripts

Committee proceedings have not been transcribed verbatim.  On important points, transcripts should be checked against the video to ensure accuracy.

French language materials

French language videos and transcripts can be found by using the links below to access the parliamentary English language page, and then clicking on the French language icon or link at the upper right corner of the parliamentary page.

Meetings

Groups and individuals were heard during 10 Committee meetings, which are listed and outlined below.  The outline of each meeting includes:

  • Meeting number and date
  • Links to full videos and transcripts of the meeting
  • Witness list
  • Links to videos edited to show exchanges relevant to freedom of conscience
  • Links to briefs submitted by the groups/individuals
  • Links to extracts from group/individual briefs relevant to freedom of conscience (+)

Meeting No. 2
18 January, 2016  |  Video |  Transcript

  • Department of Justice
    • Joanne Klineberg, Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section
    • Jeanette Ettel, Counsel, Human Rights Law Section

Meeting No. 3
25 January, 2016 | Video | Transcript

  • Department of Health
    • Abby Hoffman, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy
    • Sharon Harper, Manager, Chronic and Continuing Care Division
  • As an individual
    • Peter Hogg, Scholar in Residence, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
  • Barreau du Québec
    • Marc Sauvé, Director, Research and Legislation Services
    • Jean-Pierre Ménard, Lawyer

Meeting No. 5
26 January, 2016 | Video | Transcript

  • External Panel on Options for a Legislative Response to Carter v. Canada
    • Benoît Pelletier, Member, External Panel
    • Stephen Mihorean, Executive Director, Secretariat
  • Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying
    • Jennifer Gibson, Co-Chair
    • Maureen Taylor, Co-Chair

Meeting No. 6
27 January, 2016 | Video | Transcript

  • Canadian Medical Association
    • Dr. Cindy Forbes, President
    • Dr. Jeff Blackmer, Vice-President, Medical Professionalism
  • Canadian Nurses Association
    • Anne Sutherland Boal, Chief Executive Officer
    • Josette Roussel, Senior Nurse Advisor
  • Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians
  • Canadian Pharmacists Association
  • Canadian Psychiatric Association
    • Dr. K. Sonu Gaind, President
    • Katie Hardy, Director, Professional and Member Affairs

Meeting No. 7
28 January, 2016  | Video | Transcript

  • As an individual
    • Hon. Steven Fletcher
  • Council of Canadians with Disabilities
    • Dean Richert, Co-Chair, Ending of Life Ethics Committee
    • Rhonda Wiebe, Co-Chair, Ending of Life Ethics Committee
  • Dying With Dignity Canada
  • As individuals
    • Jocelyn Downie, Professor, Faculties of Law and Medicine, Dalhousie University
    • David Baker, Lawyer, Bakerlaw
    • Trudo Lemmens, Professor, Faculty of Law & Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

Meeting No. 8
1 February, 2016  | Video | Transcript

  • British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
    • Josh Paterson, Executive Director
    • Grace Pastine, Litigation Director
  • Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms
  • Dying With Dignity Canada
    • Wanda Morris, Chief Executive Officer
    • Shanaaz Gokool, Chief Operating Officer and National Campaigns Director
  • College of Family Physicians of Canada
    • Dr. Francine Lemire, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
  • Alzheimer Society of Canada
    • Mimi Lowi-Young, Chief Executive Officer
    • Debbie Benczkowski, Chief Operating Officer

Meeting No. 9
1 February, 2016  | Video | Transcript

  • Canadian Cancer Society
    • Gabriel Miller, Director, Public Issues
    • Kelly Masotti, Assistant Director, Public Issues
  • First Nations University of Canada
    • Carrie Bourassa, Professor, Indigenous Health Studies

Meeting No. 10
2 February, 2016 | Video | Transcript

  • As an individual
    • Carolyn Ells, Associate Professor, Medicine, Biomedical Ethics Unit, McGill University
  • Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
  • Dying With Dignity Canada
    • Derryck Smith, Chair of Physicians Advisory Council
  • College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia
    • Dr. Douglas Grant, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer
    • Marjorie Hickey, Legal Counsel
  • Criminal Lawyers’ Association
    • Leo Russomanno, Member and Criminal Defence Counsel
  • Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada
    • Dr. Alika Lafontaine, President

Meeting No. 11
3 February, 2016 | Video | Transcript

  • Coalition for HealthCARE and Conscience
    • Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop, Archdiocese of Toronto
    • Laurence Worthen, Executive Director, Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada
  • Canadian Unitarian Council
  • Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
    • Dr. Tarek Rajji, Chief, Geriatric Psychiatry
    • Kristin Taylor, Vice-President, Legal Services
  • Canadian Paediatric Society
    • Dr. Dawn Davies, Chair, Bioethics Committee
    • Mary J Shariff, Associate Professor of Law and Associate Dean Academic, University of Manitoba
  • Canadian Council of Imams

Meeting No 12
4 February, 2016  | Video | Transcript

  • DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada
    • Carmela Hutchison, President
  • Alliance of People with Disabilities Who Are Supportive of Legal Assisted Dying Society
    • Margaret Birrell, President
    • Angus M. Gunn, Counsel
  • As an individual
    • Margaret Somerville, Professor, McGill University
  • The Canadian Medical Protective Association
  • Canadian Association for Community Living
    • Michael Bach, Executive Vice-President
  • As an individual
    • Gerald Chipeur, Lawyer
  • Society of Rural Physicians of Canada

Edited Videos

The edited videos provided here focus on

  • terminology,
  • the continuing effects of the criminal law,
  • the exemptions to criminal prosecution required to allow euthanasia and physician assisted suicide under the terms of the Carter ruling,
  • jursidiction of the federal and provincial governments in relation to criminal law and freedom of conscience and religion,
  • freedom of conscience and religion for individual and institutional health care providers who object to providing or becoming parties to euthanasia or assisted suicide.
List of Edited Videos

Group/individual presentations

Multiple participant discussions

Briefs submitted

Links to the full briefs are provided below.  Click on (+) to see statements from a brief relevant to freedom of conscience and religion for healthcare providers.

By groups/ indivduals appearing as witnesses

By groups/individuals not appearing

You shouldn’t lose your job because of your morals. Neither should your doctor.

You shouldn't lose your job because of your morals. Neither should your doctor.
We want doctors to be able to serve their patients instead of being pushed out of the practice of medicine.

But we need your help. Governments and medical associations will only agree if there is public support.

Visit MoralConvictions.ca to learn more and make sure your voice is heard.

After Hobby Lobby: What Is Caesar’s, What Is God’s?

Address at the pre-conference session, ‘After Hobby Lobby: What Is Caesar’s, What Is God’s?’

2015 Petrie-Flom Center Annual Conference
“Law, Religion, and Health in America,”
Harvard Law School

  Frank R. Wolf, *

. . . As we ponder, “What Is Caesar’s, What Is God’s?”, I am reminded of a profound quote from one of Virginia’s native sons.

Founding Father James Madison once opined, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property.” And as it relates to our discussion today, I maintain that conscience is most assuredly God’s.

In that vein, I’d like to begin with a personal story which serves as a window into my own conscience.

On the opening day of a new Congress, the vote for Speaker is the first vote held, and it is always by voice vote. Each Member’s name is called out, and he or she shouts out the name of their party leader.

On January 7, 1997 – the opening day of the 105th Congress – we were voting on the reelection of Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House.

Newt was then under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The House Democratic whip, David Bonior, had filed most of the eighty-four ethics charges against him, which ranged from accusations that Newt had misused tax-exempt funds to criticism over a lucrative advance he was offered by HarperCollins to write two books.

Eighty-three of the eighty-four charges were ultimately dropped.

However at the time of the vote, the Ethics Committee report had not yet been published.

I felt that I could not, in good conscience, vote for Newt as Speaker until I had seen the report. This turned out to be a very controversial decision.  [Full text]

Pediatrician won’t treat baby with 2 moms

 USA Today

Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press

DETROIT  –  Sitting in the pediatrician’s office with their 6-day-old daughter, the two moms couldn’t wait to meet the doctor they had picked out months before.

The Roseville, Mich., pediatrician  –  one of many they had interviewed  –  seemed the perfect fit: She took a holistic approach to treating children. She used natural oils and probiotics. And she knew they were lesbians.

But as Jami and Krista Contreras sat in the exam room, waiting to be seen for their newborn’s first checkup, another pediatrician entered the room and delivered a major blow: The doctor they were hoping for had a change of heart. After “much prayer,” she decided that she couldn’t treat their baby because they are lesbians. [Full text]